


Finding Beauty

by MissMegara



Category: Figure Skating RPF, Sports RPF
Genre: Beautiful, Boys In Love, Declarations Of Love, M/M, Monologue, Sweet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-18
Updated: 2015-07-18
Packaged: 2018-04-10 00:07:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,677
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4369592
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MissMegara/pseuds/MissMegara
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. But there's more to it than what you see.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Finding Beauty

**Author's Note:**

> I needed to write something non-depressing. So I dug up an old draft and made it presentable.
> 
> Title borrowed from [Mr. Craig Armstrong](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j5xBh50U_OE).
> 
> Once again an honorable mention for [Fuchsia](http://archiveofourown.org/users/Fuchsia/pseuds/Fuchsia). Thank you for rubbing off and helping me to make this better ^_^
> 
> Disclaimer: This is a work of pure fiction, consisting of fictional characters living fictional lives.

When Javier came back from the bathroom, Yuzuru was still in bed. He was lying dead still, except for his chest that was constantly lifting and lowering with every peaceful breath that he took. The sun had already come up. But for the most part those heavy curtains fulfilled their duty and kept it trapped on the other side of the window. Except for this one persistent ray of light that had managed to sneak through a gap and now made its way all across the room. Like it was searching for something worthy to shine upon and had finally found what it was looking for. Here, in the corner of his bedroom, hidden away between remnants of darkness and jumbled bedcovers. 

Javier slipped back into bed, ever so cautiously as not to disturb or, God forbid, wake him. But Yuzuru still started to move around. He smacked his lips and stretched himself as he scrambled to lie on his back, his face turned sideways in Javier's direction. Javier couldn't help it, he reached over and carefully wiped the drool from the corner of his mouth. Good thing Yuzuru was sleeping. He would've hated it that Javier saw him like this. He was more than just a little peculiar in this regard. After a competition he could stand in front of a dozen TV cameras, sweating so much, one could've carried it away in buckets and filled up a swimming pool of Olympic proportions. And Yuzuru wouldn't bat an eyelash because of it. But the mere idea that he was lying in Javier's bed, his face squished into weird shapes, slobbering and slurping, making unintentionally hilarious noises - that was just too much for him. He had to draw the line somewhere. 

Javier found it extremely amusing that Yuzuru still tried to be the hot boyfriend he thought he had to be. Like Javier hadn't already seen him in positions much more unflattering than this one right now. And he wasn't just thinking about some of those contortions Yuzuru managed to carry out in bed. Not just, anyway. But his mind didn't have to go any further than the Cricket Club to come up with many more pictures that showed Yuzuru under less fortunate circumstances. Suffice it to say that stretching exercises didn't necessarily have to look overly sexy. Javier moved a little closer towards him and let his fingertips brush over Yuzuru's cheek, tracing the faint impression the pillowcase had left behind on the silky skin. He knew that Yuzuru must be fast asleep. Otherwise he would've opened his eyes by now and had told Javier that he didn't like to be watched while he was sleeping.

"Why would you even mind, hm? You know how much I like looking at you. And you always look beautiful to me." Yuzuru also wouldn't have liked to hear that. He always complained that it made him feel like a girl whenever Javier said this to him. "Stupid boy," he laughed quietly. "We both know that you're all the man I can handle." He laid down on his back and silently stared at the ceiling, observing how this little ray of sunshine kept fighting its way in, moving closer and closer towards the center of the room. 

"I don't think I ever told you this but... before Brian took you on as a student, he'd asked me if I was okay with that. And when he did I was... I wasn't sure if I should say yes." At the time he'd known next to nothing about Yuzuru. But of course he'd seen him around on the senior circuit for a while already, and he'd certainly noticed him. Everybody had. How could they not? With his shiny costumes he could've mortified even the brightest beacon light. You couldn't have overlooked him even if you tried. And if anybody had talked about that slightly weird, overexcited Japanese kid, they didn't have to drop a name to make clear who they were talking about.

The quiet sound of Yuzuru's breathing caught Javier's ear, making him look towards him again. "Do you have any idea how exhausting it was to have you around? After a week I was ready to pack you up and send you back to Japan via airmail." Javier remembered their first day of training like it had been yesterday. Yuzuru had come in with all guns blazing and then did jump after jump after jump. He was like one of those crazy cartoon bunnies that keep going day and night until somebody finally takes out the batteries to make it stop. But there was no stopping Yuzuru. He would just keep pushing himself until they had to practically scrape him off the ice because he could barely stand on his own two feet anymore. "I honestly thought you'd faint," Javier chuckled. He recalled that picture so vividly. How Yuzuru would glide past him every once in a while, his mouth hectically opening and closing, his hands rested on his knees while he was bent over so far, Javier had no idea why he didn't just topple over and fall flat on his face. "You were gasping for air like it was your last day on earth." As if he'd hear him, Yuzuru took an extra deep breath and contorted his face before settling back down, leaving his lips slightly parted as his breathing went back to a steady pace.

"At least you've always managed to make me laugh." Javier knew that Yuzuru thought of himself as a funny guy. And he was. Kind of. Sometimes. Not always intentionally. But intentional or not, most of the time his presence alone seemed reason enough to put a smile on everybody's face. "I thought it would take longer. But I warmed up to you pretty quickly." And why wouldn't he? Yuzuru was a nice guy after all. Granted, talking to him was a bit of a struggle in the beginning because Yuzuru's English skills were certainly improvable, to say the least. But he made up for it by always being very sweet and polite. Maybe even a little too polite. There had been way too much bowing going on for Javier's taste. But that was just who Yuzuru was. The kind of guy who would throw himself into everything he did, even the tiniest little things. Like being nice to people he barely knew. And his pesky way of carrying everything to extremes and always wanting to get better, it had an unexpected side effect: it made Javier work all that much harder himself, in a way he'd never thought possible. 

"And then..." Javier let his gaze wander over the blanket that was wound tightly around Yuzuru's body. "It wasn't something I decided. It just happened. I just... couldn't stop myself from looking at you." He actually remembered that day, that afternoon when he first noticed that this special boy was by no means a boy anymore. "Getting through training was torture for me. You have no idea what that's like, do you? When someone has to skate behind you and stare at this perfect little body of yours." But it was more than that. Javier had felt it long before he'd seen it. Every day he would study this body, observe how it changed during practice. How Yuzuru's muscles would slowly warm up and get comfortable, finally allowing him to do what only he could do. "You make it look so easy. But I can see how every fiber of your being is hard at work." 

Javier turned to his side again and ended up lying closer to Yuzuru. So close, he had a hard time restraining himself from wrapping both arms around him and pulling him even closer. "You were always so intense and so many things at once. I could never make sense of you." Javier let his hand glide through the air, tracing the outlines of Yuzuru's body without actually touching him. "There was only one thing about you that I could understand, and that's how you really got to me." He wasn't quite sure if Yuzuru was sleep-snorting or smirking. Whatever it was, just looking at him made Javier inadvertently smile. "It was your skating. Always. As soon as those blades hit the ice you are just so... happy. That's why I keep telling you that you're beautiful, because you make me see it again. You remind me of every reason I ever had to get into all of this."

Yuzuru didn't make the slightest move when Javier carefully let one fingertip graze over his forearm. "I could watch you for hours just swaying to the music. See how your fingers extend, one after the other, making your arms look even longer. And you don't just go round in circles when you spin, no. You make the whole room revolve around you while you stand there, overflowing with whatever it is that makes you who you are." Javier brushed a strand of hair out of his face before he gently placed his hand on Yuzuru's cheek. "I still don't know what it is about you. But watching you skate, seeing you be... yourself – if that's not true beauty, then I don't know what is."

Javier smiled at him when Yuzuru slowly opened his eyes. He still looked a bit drowsy, but they both knew that he'd been awake for a while now. 

"Blah blah blah," he mumbled with a croaky voice. "So much Spanish blah blah..." He got interrupted by his own giggles when Javier tickled him in the side, but eventually Yuzuru caught his hand and pressed it against his chest. He rubbed his face against the pillow, snuffling in a way that was both adorable and rather ungainly. "Why so much talking?" he asked placidly, his tender voice suddenly fully under control. "What did you say?"

Javier leaned over, taking in the knowing look on his face one last time before he watched that beautiful smile disappear underneath his own lips.

"I said I love you."


End file.
